「これお箸では食べにくいよ！」
= Kore ohashi de wa tabenikui yo!
= It is hard to eat this with chopsticks.
みなさん、こんにちは！
= Minasan Konnichiwa1
= Hello everyone!
I love プリン(=purin), custard pudding! boucingheart! !purin!
But how am I supposed to eat this with chopsticks?
「これお箸では食べにくいよ！」
= Kore ohashi de wa tabenikui yo!
= It is hard to eat this with chopsticks.
● これ = kore = this
これは= korewa
(は=wa = a subject marker)
I know many of you are struggling with Japanese particles. But we often omit particles in conversation.
● お箸= ohashi
箸= はし = hashi = chopsticks (adding お ( =o ) makes it sound more polite.)
● では = dewa = with (particle)
で(=de) is a particle to express method, mean = with, by , using ~
You can also just say
箸で（ = hashi de) with chopsticks
We add は ( = wa) when we want to emphasize what comes before では ( = dewa)
● 食べにくい = tabenikui = hard to eat
We are going to learn this today. !JYANE!
:u:
***********
Today’s focus grammar patterns :
verb + やすい ( = ~ yasui) = easy to do something
verb + にくい ( = ~ nikui) = hard to do something
!heartsippai! How to form :
★verb ます form
1) delete ます( = masu)
2) add やすい ( = yasui) or にくい ( = nikui)
★わかる ( = wakaru) to understand
わかります ( = wakarimasu)
わかりやすい ( = wakariyasui) = easy to understand, simple, clear
わかりにくい ( = wakarinikui) = hard to understand, difficult, unclear
Ex. この教科書はわかりにくい。
= Kono kyoukasho wa wakarinikui.
= This textbook is hard to understand.
Ex. 「よろしくお願いします。」という日本語の表現は英語に訳しにくいです。
= “Yoroshiku onegai shimasu” toiu nihongo no hyougen wa eigo ni yakushinikui desu.
= The Japanese expression “Yosorhiku onegai shimasu*” is hard to translate in English.
(＊ Thank you for your help in advance./ I appreciate you for taking care of something or someone in advance.)
Ex. とても言いにくいんだけど別れてくれない？ (Casual)
= Totemo iinikuin dakedo wakarete kurenai?
= It’s difficult to tell you but can you break up with me?
Note : んだけど ( = ndakedo) is a casual way to say のですが ( = no desu ga)
The original form is 言いにくいのですが ( = iinikui no desu ga)
Ex. マギーはだまされやすい。(passive form)
= Maggie wa damasareyasui.
= Maggie is gullible. （Maggie is easily deceived）
Ex. この扉の鍵は開けにくい。
= Kono tobira no kagi wa akenikui.
= This door lock is hard to open.
Ex. この携帯は使いやすい。
= Kono keitai wa tsukaiyasui.
= This cellphone is easy to use.
Ex. 地下鉄の中は、携帯の電波が届きにくい。
= Chikatestu no naka wa keitai no denpa ga todokinikui.
= It is hard to get cellphone reception in the subways.
:pika: Special note for beginners :
When you make a simple sentence,
Subject is やすい( = yasui) / にくい ( = nikui) = Subject is easy to do /hard to do
I found out some of you tend to use を ( = wo) (or に ( = ni) in case of 4) instead of は ( = wa). I was wondering why but it’s probably because you learned these patterns.
1) Aを使う ( = A wo tsukau) = to use A
2) B を見る ( = B wo miru ) = to see (watch, look at) B
3) Cを着る ( = C wo kiru ) = to put on (wear) C
4) Dに乗る ( = C ni noru ) = to ride C
Yes, we have to use an object marker, を ( = wo) （or に ( = ni) here because they are all objects.
However, when we make a sentence “something is easy/hard to do” , we have to use a subject marker, は ( = wa). (or が( = ga) when you show some contrast.)
1) Aは使いやすい/ 使いにくい
= A wa tsukaiyasui / tsukainikui
= A is easy to use / hard to use
2) Bは見やすい / 見にくい
= B wa miyasui / minikui
= B is easy to see / hard to see
3) Cは着やすい / 着にくい
= C wa kiyasui / kinikui
= C is easy to put on (comfortable to wear ) / hard to put on (uncomfortable to wear)
4) Dは乗りやすい/ 乗りにくい
= D wa noriyasui / norinikui
= D is easy to drive (ride) / hard to drive (ride)
But of course, we may alternate the particle in more complicated sentences. Will show you more examples later.
:s: Adjective form :
* verb + やすい ( = ~ yasui) + noun
* verb + にくい ( = ~ nikui) + noun
Ex. わかりやすい説明
= Wakari yasui setsumei.
= Easy-to-understand (simple, clear) explanation
Ex. 彼女は話しやすい
= Kanojo wa hanashiyasui.
= She is easy to talk to.
Ex. 答えにくい質問
= Kotaenikui shitsumon
= a difficult question to answer
Ex. 読みやすい本
= Yomiyasui hon
= easy-to-read book
Ex. 履きやすい靴
= Hakiyasui kutsu
= comfortable shoes
Ex. 見つけにくい店
= Mitsukenikui mise
= a store which is hard to find
Ex. しわ(皺）になりにくいシャツ
= Shiwa ni narinikui shatsu
= wrinkle-resistant shirt
Adverb form :
やすい ( = yasui) →やすく( = yasuku)
にくい( = nikui) →にくく ( =nikuku)
Ex. トンカツは食べやすく切っておきました。
= Tonkatsu wa tabeyasuku kitte okimashita.
= I sliced the pork cutlet into pieces to make it easier to eat.
（Note : You can also say トンカツを ( = tonkatsu wo) using a direct object marker を( = wo) )
Ex. マギー先生、もっとわかりやすく教えて下さい。
= Maggie sensei, motto wakariyasuku oshiete kudasai .
= Maggie Sensei, please teach us more clearly.
Ex. 雪で道が滑りやすくなっているので気をつけて下さい。
= Yuki de michi ga suberiyasuku natte iru node ki wo tsukete kudasai.
= Be careful. The streets have become slippery due to the snow.
Ex. 彼が同じ部署に来てから働きにくくなった。
= Kare ga onaji busho ni kite kara hatarakinikuku natta.
= Since he started to work in the same division, it has become hard to work there.
マギー先生より = Maggie sensei yori = From Maggie Sensei
私のレッスンはわかりやすいですか？わかりにくいですか？」
= Watashi no ressun wa wakariyasui desu ka? Wakarinikui desu ka?
= Are my lessons easy to understand? Or hard to understand?
えっ？ そんな質問は答えにくい？
= Eh? Sonna shitsumon wa kotaenikui?
=What? It is hard to answer that kind of question?
***
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46 Comments
Are negative forms common? In English (at least in the UK) we like to say “it is not [too] difficult to ~”. Would that be similar in Japanese?
Eg would it sound natural to say “Hiragana wa yominikukunai desu ?”
HI Wojtek
Good question.
If it is a regular adjective, negative form is pretty common.
難しくないです。Not difficult
そんなに難しくないです。 Not so difficult
But the negative form of やすい and にくい are not so common.
読みにくい hard to read
読みやすい easy to read
Unless you negate what someone just said.
この本は読みにくいね。 = This book is hard to read.
読みにくくないよ。=It is not hard to read.
Very interesting – thank you 🙏🏻
Anytime! :)
Hi! Sorry if this question was asked already. But what about づらい and がたい？Are those the same as にくい
Nevermind I figured it out
Hello Les,
Sorry. I just read your comment. 🙏 But good that you figured it out.
Hey there!
I’m wondering about using する verbs with にくい and やすい .
家で、日本語を勉強するにくいです。
Does this work to mean studying Japanese at home is hard?
ありがとうございます！
Hi Isaac,
You use a masu-stem します→し＋にくい・やすい
〜しやすい
〜しにくい
I guess you can say 勉強しやすい・しにくい Under certain circumstances (room, environment ,etc) but you don’t say for example
日本語は勉強しやすい・しにくい
Hi Maggie! Thank you for this lesson.
Can you please, explain me the difference between:
やすい and 簡単
にくい and 難しい
Hi Eliza,
The biggest difference is you always use やすい／にくい combining with other verb and
you don’t use 簡単／難しい in a compound words.
~するのは／verb dictionary form + のが簡単です。= Doing something is easy.
~するのは／verb dictionary form + のが難しいです。= Doing something is difficult/hard.
Also when you talk about the characteristic of things/people, you rarely use 簡単／難しい
Easy to break = breakable
壊れやすい (You don’t say 壊れるのが簡単）
Hard to break = durable
壊れにくい (You don’t say 壊れるのが難しい）
Easy to talk to (Friendly personality)
話しやすい (You don’t say 話すのが簡単）
Thank you so much for your reply. And thank you for this lesson!
My pleasure!! ☺️
Hey Maggie sensei,
Is it possible to conjugate やすい・にくい into the past tense?
Hi Synthia
Yes, 〜やすかった・〜にくかった
食べやすかった
食べにくかった
Hello,
I’ve heard my Japanese teacher say ’この椅子は座りやすい’ how would you translate this into English without it sounding strange?
＠Kristina
Hi Kristina
I would say
This chair is comfortable.
hello maggie sensei..!
i’d like to make a sentence. “Watashi wa kono kanji wo kakinikui desu”
is it correct?
@yaya
Hello yaya!
“Watashi wa kono kanji wo kakinikui desu”
The basic pattern is A is ~ yasui/nikui = Something is easy/difficult to do something
You put “watashi” as a subject so change the subject particle “(watashi) wa” to “(watashi) niwa” which means “for (me)” and put “kanji” as a subject using a particle “wa”
I’ll show you
漢字は書きにくいです。
= Kanji wa kakinikui desu.
= Kanji is difficult to write
+ add “for me” 私には(=watashi niwa)
→私には漢字は書きにくいです。
= Watashi niwa kanji wa kakinikui desu.
You can also say 私にとっては= Watashi ni tottewa for “for me”.
Hello Maggie sensie .. I learned a lot of Japanese through your site . Aregatou Guzaiimashita.!
Hi Lhea!
I’m happy to hear you learned a lot here! :)
Hello, my book lists “kaze wo hikiyasui” and I was wondering, if you say you use ga/wa with yasui/nikui (and makes all the sense to me since it becomes a some kind of adjective), is my book wrong using wo? (I sometimes spot fails so I wouldn’t be surprised) Or maybe they’re sometimes switched? Thank you
＠Lia
Hello Lia,
風邪をひく(kazw wo hiku) is an idiom. The original meaning of 引く＝ひく= hiku is “to draw” so you need an object marker を
（FYI We also say 風邪にかかる= Kaze ni kakaru : In this case かかる means “to be infected” so you need a particle for cause, に = ni= by)
Back to your question, you don’t say 風邪がひきやすい but when you show the contrast you can say 風邪はひきやすい(=kaze wa hikiyasui)／風邪はひきにくい(=kaze wa hikinikui)
Ex. 大きな病気にかかることはあるがなぜか風邪はひきにくい。
= Ookina byouki ni kakaru koto wa aru ga naze ka kaze wa hikinikui.
(Showing the contrast between serious disease and cold.)
Haha yep, I see it’s an idiom, I like it, sounds really strange, to draw a cold or to pull a cold. Anyway I read more often “kodomo ga tabeyasui tabemono”, for example, to say that it’s food that a kid can easily eat so, I guess nikui/yasui is not as much an adjective and has a verb part. I’d have said “kodomo ni tabeyasui” but I understand the ga.
thank you!!!
@Lia
Basically it is possible to use many different particles with V+やすい／にくい depending on the verb and context.
noun が／は／を／に/も/でも, etc… + V+やすい／にくい
子供が食べやすい食べ物= Kodomo ga tabeyasui tabemono
子供が食べやすいように切る= Kodomo ga tabeyasui you ni kiru.
このお菓子は子供に食べやすいように作られています。= Kono okashi wa kodomo ni tabeyasui you ni tsukurarete imasu.
Hi Maggie sensei,
In the sentence “Kaze wo hikinikui”, the subject is “I” right.
If I dont want to bury the subject, how would I say?
私には風を引きやすい。
Or
私は風を引きやすい。
Thanks a lot Maggie sensei
私は風邪をひきやすい。
Note: 風邪= cold / 風 = wind
Hello Maggie Sensei,
I have been your site’s reader for quite a time but it’s my first time leaving a comment here ^^
I just have a small question. Can I use potential verb with ~yasui/nikui? For example, when I want to say something like “It’s easy to see snow in winter”, can I say “yuki ga mirareyasui”? (it does sound strange to be honest T_T).
Thank you in advance ^^.
＠Jolie
Hello Jolie, Thank you for your first comment!
There isn’t a potential for of ~yasui/nikui but there is a passive form.
So if you say
見られやすい（=mirareyasui) , we automatically think it’s a passive form. “something is easy to be seen”
Ex. 私は３０歳ですが、若く見られやすい。＝I am thirty years old but I look younger.
Will show you other example with a passive form.
*盗む=nusumu=to steal →盗まれやすい= nusumareyasui = easy to be stolen / 盗まれにくい(=nusumare nikui) hard to be stolen
Ex. この自転車は盗まれやすい= Kono jitensha wa nusumare yasui = This bicycle is easy to be stolen.
So if you want to say “It’s easy to see snow in winter”, you just say
雪は冬に見られることが多い。
= Yuki wa fuyu ni mirareru koto ga ooi.
But we usually say
雪は冬に降ることが多い。
= Yuki wa fuyu ni furu koto ga ooi.
Sensei, thank you so much ^^
Through your explaining, I understand the meaning of passive form + yasui/nikui, but here come one more question. Even though “yuki ga mirareyasui” here literally means “Snow can easily be seen”, I guess it still can’t be used to express the likeliness of seeing snow in winter, right Sensei? (i’m a little bit confused here
)
And a little more, can I say “Yuki wa fuyu ni mirarerukoto ga yasashii”?
Nice day Sensei ^w^
@Jolie
Still I would say 雪は冬に見られやすい doesn’t sound natural.
And you don’t say 雪は冬にみられることがやさしい (“Yuki wa fuyu ni mirarerukoto ga yasashii)
I see.
Thank you for you explaining :-D
@Jolie
You’re welcome,Jolie!
はい、本当に分かりやすいです、この文法は今、分かるようになりました、ありがとうございますマギー先生(=^ㅅ^=)
@Belajar Bahasa Jepang
コメントありがとう！！わかりやすかったと聞いてうれしいです！:)
I love reading your lessons so much!! Thank you! I used to think I was learning Nihongo like a turtle but now I am learning many useful and practical lessons in Nihongo. Arigatou, Maggie Sensei~ > u<
@Isay
Hello Isay! このサイトに来てくれてありがとう！Thank you for visiting this site.
Learning Japanese like a turtle is good as long as you enjoy learning it. :)
Hope you come back here to learn more!
Wow, you replied so fast! Your site has become one of my relaxation activities after a long day at work. I love it! And yes, I enjoy learning Japanese, each new word I learn is so colorful, especially when I learn more about the kanji that comprise them. But words are weak without regular usage.. your site shows precisely how to do so correctly, so again, thank you!! <3
@Isay
I’m VERY happy to hear that. Feel free to practice with the words that you have just learned here anytime. :)
なんてすばらしいレッスンなんでしょう!(*⌒∇⌒*)
マギー先生, ただいま! お久しぶりですね? 私は悪い生徒でごめんなさい。o(╥﹏╥)o 最近、毎日仕事で忙しいですから。 でも, 日本語を上達することを一所懸命に頑張ります!
ミツ先生がかわいい!もちろんマギー先生も!
Oh no, I meant to post this comment on “How to use なんて(=nante)” my mistake! (^_^)
@Remi Ayumi Lee
久しぶり！またこのサイトに来てくれてうれしいです。ミツ先生、かわいいでしょ〜❤（大丈夫！どのレッスンにコメント入れてくれても必ず読みます！）
これからも日本語楽しいんで続けてくださいね！
マギー先生、教えたことは本当に分かりやすいです。特に「は」と「を」の使い方。それを知るのが便利だと思います。ありがとうございます。
@江戸W.
よかった！！”やすい＆にくい”、これからも使ってみて下さいね。
Hello maggie sensei,
You replied to the comment of jolie-san in this lesson that, the translate of –
“Its easy to see winter in Japanese”
雪は冬に降ることが多い
i can’t get the nuance of this stentnec
and can the below sentence is more common than the before one
冬は雪が見やすい.
And i have another doubt that 易い is used as suffix of verb stem as easily
so please tell which is correct one
of ” He climbs tree easily”
彼は簡単に木にのぼる。
彼は木がのぼりやすい。
if both are correct then whats the difference between their nuance.
As always thanks for your amazing service. your lessons helps me a lot to improve japanese.
冬は雪が見やすい or 雪は冬に見やすい doesn’t sound natural because it generally snows in winter.
You use 見やすい in the context such as
この席の方がステージが見やすい。
You can see the stage better in this seat.
You don’t say 彼は木がのぼりやすい。
but you can say この木は登りやすい。This tree is easy to climb.
彼は簡単に木に登れる (potential form is better)
簡単に means “to do something easily/without difficulties”